A Knock at the Door
by Erandri
Summary: Life always has important moments. With Neal and Alex they always seem to start with a knock on the door. A series of moments in Neal and Alex's relationship that each start with a simple knock. Thanks to yasmina9 for the further inspiration.
1. A Knock at the Door

A Knock at the Door

**I was going to post this last night after I wrote it but it was 11:30pm and I was tired, so I postponed to today. This little plot idea popped into my head after I wrote my NealxKate fic. I hope that you like it.**

I was sitting on the couch reading when I heard the soft knock at my door. I got up and opened the door to reveal Alex standing there, covered in marks and bruises.

"Alex? What happened?" I asked ushering her into the room.

"I was doing a job and it went south," she said with tears in her eyes. I led her over to the couch and sat her down before she continued, "I was meeting a client who wanted to buy a Ming vase and he decided that there was something else there that he wanted."

"You," I said and she just nodded her head.

"He threw me against the wall and started to kiss me. I tried to shove him away but he just slapped me and held my hands down. Finally I kneed him in the groin and ran." I looked over Alex in the dim lamplight and I succumbed to my anger. Nobody can do this to Alex, not to the woman I loved. I took her hand in mine started to kiss the faint bruises on her wrist. "What are you doing?" she asked breathlessly.

"I want him off of you," I growled, "I want every trace of him gone and replaced by me," I said as my kisses slowly proceeded up her arm, "Where else?"

"What?"

"Where else did he touch you," I asked staring into her eyes.

"Here," she said breathlessly gesturing to her neck. I crawled closer to her on the couch and pressed my lips against her smooth neck. I kissed her more and a soft moan escaped from her throat. I kept kissing her, trying to cover every inch of her with me. "And here," she said pointing to her cheek. I gingerly kissed the spot she pointed to. "A little to the left," she told me and I moved a little closer to her mouth, "I little more," she said and I pressed my lips to hers.

She reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck pulling me closer to her. She lay down on the couch and I eagerly followed her. I moved my hand to her waist and slowly slid it under her loose shirt. Alex broke the kiss and turned her hands to my tie. Once she had succeeded in removing it she threw it and then turned to my shirt. While she was struggling with the buttons I returned to kissing her. She finally got the last button undone and pulled my shirt off.

Not wanting to be the only one half dressed, I slowly moved my hands down to her waist, loving the little goose bumps that arose where my hands were. I undid her belt and zipper and Alex masterfully slipped out of her pants to reveal her beautiful long legs and a pair of very skimpy lace underwear. Biting her lower lip she smiled the sexiest smile I hadever seen and took off her shirt to reveal a matching bra. She pulled me back down to her and I reveled in the wave of heat that flowed through me when I felt her tongue slip past my lips to flirt with my own.

Her legs started to move, caressing mine until they came to rest tightly wrapped around my waist. I easily lifted her up off of the couch and moved her over to the bed, still intertwined with me. I set her down on the plush bed and disentangled her from me. She looked at me with a hurt look, until she realized that I was trying to remove the rest of my clothing. Her hurt look turned into a sly grin as I achieved my task and we fell back onto the bed. I felt her light fingers on my back as my kisses moved from her mouth, to her neck, down between her breasts and farther down still until her navel. I slowly ran my hand over her leg until my fingers found the hem of her underwear.

I slipped them under the hem and slowly, very slowly edged them downwards. I heard another moan come through her lips and felt a shudder of pleasure roll over her. I smiled and slid her underwear the rest of the way down and threw them somewhere. I kissed her soft lips again and pulled us all the way together.

In that moment there was nothing else; there was no more Kate, or the FBI or cons and prison. In that moment it was just Alex, her beautiful eyes, her lips and the intolerable feeling of longing whenever I thought about her. And then I knew, Alex wasn't just another romp in the sheets, she wasn't just a friend with benefits, she was so much more. She was the keeper of my heart, the only one able to make my breath hitch and cheeks flush at a memory. She was the only one who could make my heart stop with just a grin.

I used to think that I had loved Kate but that wasn't love, not anymore. This, this moment right here and now with only me and Alex. This was the only love I needed, just her.

* * *

**The next morning**

"Mister Lester?" my secretary, a young girl named Brittany said from the doorway.

"Yes, what is it?" I asked not looking up from my paperwork.

"This package just came for you."

"Leave it here," I told her and she left the large brown envelope on the corner of my desk. As she walked out I looked up and couldn't help but notice her ample curves and the way that her clothes hugged her figure perfectly.

I turned back to my work and heard her phone ring. I ignored it and continued with what I was doing, and then the phone rang again. Brittany answered and by the time she hung up she sounded very distraught. She got up to come into my office but her phone rang again and interrupted her. Once again she sounded very distraught when she hung up. She came to my doorway and timidly knocked on the wall.

"What?"

"Um sir, the Weassman Company just dropped us," she told me nervously.

"What!" I roared at her.

"And, and Tello and JP Goodman."

"What! How! Give me their phone numbers!" I screamed at her and she frantically ran a note to me with the three company numbers on it. I was just about to pick up my phone when it rang.

"Hello," I said picking it up.

"Hello Lester," a voice on the other end of the line said. The voice was sweet but made my breath stop at the pure malice hidden underneath, "I trust that you received some of your good news already."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, apparently people don't like it when you skim five percent of their profits for yourself," the man said nonchalantly.

"What?" I asked and my heart stopped. How could this twerp know about that? "Who the hell are you! If you want money just name your price."

"Please," the voice said with disgust, "I don't want your money."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"For her. I trust you've already received your package," the voice said and I could hear the condescending note in his voice. He hung up without another word and I turned to the yellow envelope that had arrived.

I picked it up with a shaking hand and slowly opened it. Turning the envelope upside down dozens of pictures tumbled out, all of bruises and other marks on a girl. A feeling of terror washed over me as I realized my mistake, I had messed with a conman.

* * *

I slowly awoke and buried myself into the sheets I was wrapped in. A smile crept to my lips as I recalled last night, my first night with Neal where he was completely mine. I stretched a little and recalled the feeling of Neal everywhere on my body. His hands, his chest, his lips. Those damned lips, it felt like the tingling feeling I got from them would never leave me, especially after last night.

I got up and wrapped a sheet around me. Everything was different last night. It was free and loving and full of passion, nothing like what we had had before. This was real, this was what I had always wanted from him. I got up and looked around the room but Neal was gone. My heart sank a little and, hearing the doorknob turn, wrapped the sheet around me a little tighter. The door slowly opened and Neal stepped in wearing his usual suit and fedora.

"Oh," he said upon seeing me in the middle of the room, "I wanted to get back before you woke up."

"Where did you go?" i asked, sounding every bit the part of the jealous girlfriend.

"Nowhere, I just had a little errand to run," he said coming up and kissing me, "and on my way back, I found this," he said and pulled the most beautiful rose out from behind him.

I gasped at how perfect it was and a smile, one of his rare, genuine smiles, crept up Neal's lips. I took the rose and kissed him. I went to pull away but he pulled me closer, deepening our kiss. It wasn't out of need, it was out of longing and it was the most beautiful kiss I had ever had.

Yes, things were definitely different between us.

And just maybe that was a good thing.

* * *

I hope that you liked it!


	2. A Knock on my Heart

**A Knock on my Heart**

**So, i was just going to have this as a one shot but then yasmina9 reviewed asking if there were going to be more chapters and i started thinking. so, mu one shot will no longer be a one shot. anyways, here's the next chapter.**

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I was just about to open a microwave dinner when I heard a knock at my door. I looked at the clock and wondered who could be visiting at this late at night. Closing the freezer door I went and peered through the peephole. I saw that it was Neal and opened the door.

"Neal, what are you doing here? I don't want you FBI watchdogs to know where this place is."

"Come to dinner with me," he said completely ignoring my previous statement.

"Why? It's late, and I don't really want to change," I said and he looked down and appraised my simple shirt and underwear outfit. I felt myself blushing and shifted my legs in nervousness.

"Well, I like your outfit but, I don't think that the restaurant or chauffeur would approve."

"Restaurant?" I asked and he held up a black bag which I hadn't seen before, "Come in," I said with a sigh and took the bag and headed into the bathroom.

As soon as I closed the door I took the contents out of the bag. I held onto the material and an elegant black dress unfolded. I stared at the elegant simplicity and wondered how Neal had been able to afford it. I quickly changed into the dress and admired how it fit my body perfectly. It was a halter dress with a small ruffle bordering the low cut neckline and a slit in the side almost up to my hip

I quickly ran a comb through my hair, put on some better make- up and perfume before I headed out to meet Neal. As soon as he heard the door click open he turned and his jaw dropped as soon as he saw me.

"Alex you look," Neal said unable to finish his sentence and settled for just staring at me.

I blushed and walked over to him, "Come on, you said something about dinner."

"Right," Neal said and took my hand, escorting me out the door.

We had been dating ever since I went to him that night four months ago and it had been amazing ever since. It was nothing like when Kate had been around, this was the Neal that I used to know, the Neal that deep down in my heart of hearts I had always loved. This was a free and happy Neal, not laden down by grief and regret.

Neal led me outside and to a black car driven by, FBI Agent Peter Burke, "Neal, what is this, you brought an FBI agent to my house!" I snapped.

"Relax, he's not going to arrest you. Isn't that right Peter?" Neal asked opening the door for me.

"Yes," Peter said sounding disgruntled.

We got into the back of the car and Peter drove of as soon as the door was closed. I tried asking where we were going but all Neal did was smile and say 'you'll see'. After about ten minutes in the car Neal took a tie out of his pocket and held it up for me to see.

"And what do you expect to do with that?" I asked him.

"Turn around," he said with a smile. I was going to say no but his damn smile, I just couldn't refuse it. So I turned around and he gently place the tie over my eyes, making sure that I couldn't see beyond it. After another few minutes Peter stopped the car and Neal took my hand and led me out of the car.

"Can I take this off now?" I asked, hating not being able to see my surroundings.

"Nope," Neal said and I could hear the smile in his voice. What was he so happy about tonight?

Neal led me inside a building and up a flight of stairs, telling me how to step so that I wouldn't fall. Finally after going up two flights of stairs and down a long hallway I felt a cool wind kissing my skin.

"Where are we?" I asked, wondering why and where we were.

"Ok," Neal said and slowly lifted the tie off from my eyes.

The sight before me made my heart stop. We were on a rooftop garden which had been decorated with a candle light dinner for two. The flowers were at the height of their bloom and the small bushes were decorated with white lights.

"Neal it's, it's beautiful!" I said looking over to him.

"Come on," he said and led me to one of the seats, which he graciously pulled out for me.

He took his own seat and poured each of us a glass of wine.

"So what's the occasion?" I asked skeptically.

"Can't a guy take his stunning girlfriend out on date?"

"Yes, except for when they're named Neal Caffrey."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you're a conman, you always have an angle," I said taking a sip of my wine when something dawned on me, "How did you get to my house? It's out of your radius."

"I pulled some strings," he said holding up his glass. I held mine up with his and let the subject drop, I'll just have to find out what's he's up to later.

Over the course of the night Neal and I had a wonderful three courses that I had assumed he had made himself. We talked about everything that we could think of; art, music his job and my job, but still he refused to tell me the real purpose behind this wonderful dinner.

Finally at almost eleven at night Neal led me over to two seats with a breath- taking view of the skyline. We each sat in one of the lounge chairs and Neal pulled two tiramisu's out from nowhere. He handed one to me and we sat there staring at the full moon.

"It's our anniversary," Neal said, his eyes never leaving the moon.

"What?"

"Four months ago today," Neal said turning to me with a radiant smile.

I turned to face him and immediately felt stupid that I hadn't remembered. He just smiled at me and reached over to take my hand. We sat there for a while and everything was perfect.

"There is one more thing that I wanted to say before the night ends."

I looked over to him as he set his now empty tiramisu glass down and got off of the chair. I sat up and he took my hand once again in his. He slowly got down on one knee and pulled a small box out from his pocket.

"Neal, what are you doing?" I asked nervously.

"Alex Hunter, will you please do me the most amazing honor of becoming Mrs. Caffrey?" Neal asked me and opened the box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, my breath racing at the sight of the ring.

"Alex, I know that you're scared of commitment and I would be too if I went through what you have. The first time that we worked together I left you. I let you wait there in the hospital with the hope that one day I would walk through that door when deep down you knew that I never would. Today I want to say that I will never leave you again. I want us to work together for the rest of our lives, when you fall I'll pick you up and when I cant I will _always_ walk through that door and find you. I will never let you wait alone, living on false hope. I will always be there for you."

"Come here you fool," I said with tears running down my face and kissed him.

"So is that a yes?" He asked me hopefully.

"That's a yes," I said, he slipped the ring onto my finger and pulled me into a deep kiss.

* * *

**I hope that you like this chapter and yes, there will be more to come.**


	3. A Knock on her Stomach

**Okay this took me a lot longer to write than i thought that it would and, in result, my mind may have wavered. So i apologize if the characters seem a little OC. Anyway, i hope you enjoy the new chapter, i do, even if it was completely frustrating to write.

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****A Knock on her Stomach**

By the time Peter and I touched down in New York I was almost ready to pass out.

"Peter," I yawned, "Do we have to go and fill out paperwork?"

"No," Peter said yawning himself, "Come on, Jones will be waiting for us."

We grabbed our small bags and headed out of the terminal to where Jones would be waiting with the car. Peter and I had just gotten back from a three day assignment in Florida and were exhausted from the flight back. Peter decided to catch the red eye, which turned into a horrible decision when we were placed right in front of two young children. They yelled the entire way back and, despite our best attempts, Peter and I hadn't been able to sleep at all.

"So, how's Abigail?" I asked and Peter's mood seemed to brighten a little at the mention of his daughter.

"Elizabeth says that she's reverse cycling," he told me with a goofy smile.

"Which is?"

"She sleeps in the day and is up all night."

"Sounds helpful for today," I said with a chuckle.

"Yeah but Elizabeth hates it. How's Alex?" he asked as we arrived at the loading/ unloading area.

"She's been really moody lately. I think she doesn't like how much I've been working."

"Hey, I work at least two hours longer than you every day."

"Peter! Neal!" Jones yelled from down the lane and we started our way towards him. I yawned again and got into the back of the car.

The next thing I knew Jones was shaking me and telling me to get up. "What? Where are we?" I asked confusedly.

"You're home, you fell asleep in the car."

"Oh," I said and got out of the back seat and stretched.

"You should get some sleep, you look worse off than Peter was; and he looked like hell."

"Yeah," I said and walked up to Alex and my new townhouse. It was a simple three floor white house that we had bought right after we got married. There was a large oak in the front yard and Peter and I had put a garden complete with coy pond in in the back yard. I walked inside and dropped my bag in the entrance.

"Neal?" I heard Alex say from the living room. I took off my shoes and walked farther in and saw her sitting on the couch and reading a magazine, "Hey, I didn't think that you were going to be back until later."

"Peter decided to book us seats on the red eye," I said and yawned yet again.

"Oh honey, you look horrible," she said and started to lead me upstairs to our room. She walked me into out room and I collapsed onto the bed.

"Neal, I need to tell you something important," Alex said turning to me, but I was already asleep.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm reminding me that it was quarter to seven in the morning. I blindly reached over and smacked something, hoping that it was the snooze button. Thankfully, it was. I yawned and opened my eyes to see Alex's sleeping face. I smiled and leaned over to place a light kiss on her lips. As soon as I did her eyes slowly opened and she smiled a brilliant smile.

"Morning," I said to her sleepily.

"Morning," she said back and I kissed her again, "Ug, you're still in yesterdays clothes, go change," Alex said and pushed me off of her.

I got out of bed and headed into the bathroom to shower. When I was done I walked back into the bedroom to get changed and saw that Alex was gone. I quickly slipped on some pants and a shirt and went to look for her, it wasn't like her to get out of bed before nine. I walked downstairs and heard the sound of retching coming from the bathroom.

"Alex?" I worriedly asked. After no answer I knocked on the door and tried again, "Alex, are you okay?"

"Yeah just, uh, just give me a second," she said and I soon heard the toilet flush and the sink turn on. A second later the door opened and Alex stood there, eyes downcast.

"What's wrong?" I asked suddenly nervous.

"Come with me," she said and led me to the couch in the living room, "I've been wanting to tell you for a while but I, I needed proof first."

"What are you talking about Alex?"

"Wait here," she said and went upstairs.

I looked around the room wondering it was that she had to tell me when I heard a small knock from behind me. I turned to see Alex nervously standing in the doorway. She bit her lip and reached into her purse which she had gone to get. She unzipped the inside pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper, "I had my appointment two days ago," she said and, sitting down, handed me the paper.

I took it and stared at it for a second wondering what was contained for me on the other side. I unfolded the paper and four black and white photos appeared along with the time and Alex's name.

"What is this?" I asked, my brain not comprehending what I was seeing.

"It's a sonogram. My sonogram," she said and I looked up at her with confusion, "I'm pregnant Neal."

"You- you're, you're pregnant?" I asked, my eyes darting to her stomach.

"Yeah, and Neal," She said and I looked back up at her, "Um, do you see this spot on the sonogram?" she asked pointing to a small black spot on the photo, I nodded yes before she continued, "And, do you see this _other_ spot on the this side?" She asked me and pointed to another small black spot on the same picture.

"Do you know what that means?" she asked me and I shook my head, staring at the picture of my unborn child, "That means that, we're having twins Neal."

"Twins?" I asked her and my heart stopped. I was going to be a dad. In a matter of months I would have two beautiful children. Two children.

"Yep," she said with the most beautiful smile that I had ever seen, "It's too soon to tell the sexes yet but in a few months…"

"Twins," I stated, still in shock.

"Are you, are you okay?"

"Okay? Alex, I'm terrified," I told her honestly, "But… if they're ours then I know we'll be fine."

She smiled at me with tears running down her cheek and I kissed her.

* * *

Neal had been smiling that goofy smile ever since he first walked into the building. No matter what he was doing there was always just a trace of it plastered on his face. When we went to lunch I noticed that his eyes were shining even more than usual, but this was a different kind of shine. This was a shine that I had never seen before.

"Neal," I said and he looked up from his paperwork, still wearing that smile, "Can we talk in my office."

"Sure Peter," He said and got up.

I led him into my office and he sat down in one of the chairs across from my desk. That stupid grin was still on his face as his picked up a rubber band ball and started to play with it.

"What's up?" I asked taking the ball from him.

"Nothing, I was just wondering if Abigail would like to have a playmate."

"Abigail is seven months old, she can barely-" I stopped talking and the rubber ball fell out of my hand as soon as I realized what he was saying.

I stared at him and he smiled the biggest, goofiest smile yet to grace his face.

"So? I was thinking that they could meet in about, oh, eight months say?"

"You're going to have a kid?" I asked incredulous.

"Well, technically two but, you know…semantics."

"You're having…twins?" I asked nervously and his grin grew even wider, "You better start saving now," I said with a chuckle.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because as soon as El found out our credit card bill tripled," I said and for the first time today, he stopped grinning.

* * *

**Eight Months Later**

I woke up to see Alex's sleeping face and smiled at how beautiful she looked. I turned onto my side and placed my hand on her swollen belly. Even eight months pregnant she looked beautiful. I closed my eyes and lay there and, everything just felt right, this was how life was supposed to be.

"Neal," Alex said worriedly, I wasn't expecting her to be up this early, especially on her day off, "Neal!"

"What?" I asked opening my eyes at her urgency.

"I think my water just broke."

"What! Are you sure?"

"Well I'm not exactly one for peeing my pants!" she said and tried to get up.

"Okay, okay!" I said jumping out of bed and getting dressed as fast as I could. "Okay, wheres the hospital bag?"

"The hospital bag is by the door," she said changing as well.

"Got it," I said struggling with my shirt. I gave up and settled for just my plain white undershirt and a simple jacket that Peter had gotten me for just this time. He said that functionality was worth more that fashion when waiting for you child to be born. I disagreed at the time as it went against my usual beliefs but now, it seemed like a good idea, "Ready?"

She nodded and I helped her down the stairs and to the front door. I grabbed the hospital bag, my cell phone and the car keys and we rushed out the door. I got in the drivers side and Alex cried out.

"What?" I asked panicking.

"Contractions," she said grasping her belly.

We got to the hospital in ten minutes thanks to some driving that would have Peter yelling at me. I parked in the front entrance drop off and took Alex inside. I checked her in and two nurses rushed her to an empty bed in the maternity ward.

An hour later Peter and Elizabeth showed up toting Abigail with them. I was just bringing our breakfasts up from the cafeteria when I spotted them in the hallway.

"Peter! Elizabeth!" I said jogging to catch up with them

"Neal! How's Alex?" Elizabeth asked hiking Abigail up higher on her hip.

"She's already yelled at me twice about how my children were killing her from the inside and she would kill me as soon as she got them out."

"That good huh?" Peter asked with a smile.

"They had to move us to an empty room."

"That, that," Peter said chuckling until he got a stern glare from Elizabeth, "That's not funny."

"You remember what I was like when I was in labor?" Elizabeth said and is saw Peter shudder, "Keep talking like that and I'll go straight back to acting like that."

"We're in here," I said pointing to a door. I walked in and saw that Alex had fallen asleep. I set her bagel and cream cheese down on the table next to her and sat down in a seat.

"Did you call June and Mozzie?" Elizabeth asked.

"I did but well, you know Mozzie and hospitals and June is upstate for her granddaughters soccer tournament. She'll come down as soon as she's able to."

"So, have you decided on a name yet?"

"Well, since Alex decided not to hear the genders, by extension neither can I. So now we have to pick out four names, just in case, which makes it even more difficult. Every name that I propose she doesn't like, and every name that she proposes she decided two seconds later that she doesn't like it."

"What names have you thought up?"

"I think the better question is what names haven't we thought up?"

"What are your favorites?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well, I like Liam and Christopher for guy names and Sarah and Mackenzie for girl names. Alex likes Charlie and David for boys and Allison and Adana for girls."

"And Neal refuses to see that my names are better," Alex said sleepily from her bed.

"Hey," Elizabeth said walking over to her, "How are you feeling?"

"I feel like every five minutes I'm getting hit in the stomach. The nurse said the had to wait until they were about every two minutes before they put me in a delivery room."

"I know it hurts but believe me, it's worth it," Elizabeth said taking her hand.

"Hey Neal, will you show me where the cafeteria is? I don't remember," Peter said getting up from his seat.

"It's just downstairs," I said looking at him confusedly.

"Why don't you show me," Peter told me and I got the hint.

"Yeah, I'll show you," I said and walked out the door, Peter in tow, "You're not really hungry are you?" I asked as we got into the hall.

"With all of the food that El's been making? I don't have to eat for the next week. No, I just thought that they could use some girl time together."

We walked downstairs in silence until I found that we were in a small outside garden. We made our way to a bench and sat down.

"So, you're going to be a dad soon."

"Yep," I said and leaned back in the bench, "Peter, I don't know if I can do this."

"This said from the man who once jumped out of a judges second floor window onto an awning and into a van only to get immediately out of the van and into maintenance pipes so that he could prove that you _didn't_ do something illegal. Neal when you put your mind to it you can do things that no other man on this earth can. If I chased you for as many years as I did I refuse to believe that something as simple a children can bring you down. If I had known that I would have gone to a daycare a long time ago."

After Peter finished we sat there in silence and stared at a large oak tree. It must have been ten minutes before something dawned on me, "Three floors."

"What?" Peter asked and looked over at me.

"I jumped three floors, not two," I said and Peter started to laugh.

"Mr. Caffrey! I found you!" Alex's nurse exclaimed running into the courtyard, "You're wife just went into the delivery room!"

"Where?" I asked jumping up.

"Top floor delivery room three," the nurse said and took off running as fast as I could. I ran to the elevator but it was taking too long so I opted for the stairs instead. I took them two or three at a time and was at the top floor in no time. I looked both ways and saw delivery room three just to my right. I went to walk in but a nurse stopped me.

"Hey Wait! You cant go in there," she said grabbing my arm just as I was about to open the door.

"My wife's in there!" I said looking at her pleadingly,

"That may well be but it's a sterile environment, you have to put on a sterile apron," she said and grabbed a yellow apron, cap, mask and gloves. I hurriedly put the ensemble on and walked into the room.

"It's about time you got here Neal!" Alex yelled at me.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked taking her hand.

"I'm pushing your two bulbous children out of my body! How do you think I am!" the yelled and Elizabeth wiped some sweat off of her face.

"Elizabeth, where's Abigail?"

"Mozzie has her," she said and went back to doting on Alex.

"But Mozzie doesn't-"

"Okay Mrs. Caffrey you have to push," the doctor told Alex.

"I am pushing!" she said and shouted as another contraction hit her. She collapsed back onto the pillow, "So help me Neal if you ever impregnate me again I will castrate you."

"Duly noted," I said nervously as she took a death-grip on my hand.

Half an hour, many curse words and one bruised hand later; Alex and I were holding our newborn children, one boy and one girl.

"They're beautiful," Alex said looking down at our children.

"He has your eyes," I said looking at the little bundle of blue in her arms.

"She has yours," Alex said nodding to my own little bundle of pink.

"So what are you going to name them?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah, you really have to decide now," Peter said now holding a sleeping Abigail. He had just gotten her back from Mozzie who, after saying his congratulations, left the hospital like it was on fire.

I looked at Alex before offering a compromise, "How about, I name out daughter and you name out son?"

"Okay," she said and thought for a second, "our son's name will be Liam David Caffrey."

"And our daughter will be Adana Sarah Caffrey."

"They really are beautiful," Alex said tiredly.

"They're sure to break hearts," I said and put Adana in her crib and then Liam. I stared at them for a second and my heart soared when I saw them simultaneously yawn. I took my spot next to Alex on her bed and took her hand in mine. We all stared at our children when I felt my eyes starting to drift shut. I looked over to Alex and saw that she had fallen asleep. I smiled and let my own eyes close, visions of our children dancing across the back of my eyelids.

"Okay Mr. and Mrs. Caffrey I need to-. Oh," the nurse said coming into the room. Peter and Elizabeth looked over to see us both fast asleep, "I'll come back later," the nurse said and walked out again.

"So," Peter said awkwardly.

"It really is something you have to see to believe. Neal Caffrey, former conman and FBI consultant, married with two children. Who would have thought?" Elizabeth said and smiling, took a photo of the couple.

"I think that deep down, this is always what Neal wanted," Peter said with his own smile.

* * *

**Okay so it took me a lot longer to write this than I expected. I have no idea about the technicalities of the birthing process so if I messed something up I apologize, I'm going off of movies here. As for the children's names it took me a really long time to think of them, especially Adana. I look a lot into the meaning of the names so that's partly why it took me so long to write this. I honestly spent an hour today looking up the meaning of names and trying to find ones that fit. For what each of the children's names mean I have them below.**

**Abigail- source of joy, father rejoice**

**Liam- determined guardian**

**David- beloved or friend; a common name for Scottish kings in the middle ages**

**Adana- her fathers daughter**

**Sarah- princess**

**Adana and Liam are paternal twins, not identical, by the way.  
**

**I have the next chapter already thought up but school starts again tomorrow, today, and I have a lot of assignments to work on so it might take me a couple of days to find the time to write and post it. I hope you like the story so far! Reviews make me very happy! Seriously, my inbox is a very lonely place.**


	4. A Knock on my Nerves

**A Knock on my Nerves

* * *

**

**I'm sorry, I really wanted to write this earlier but I heard about the flashback episode and decided to wait so that my story jived with the show. Anyway, it's ten minutes after the show and I'm finishing this up, which I will post tomorrow. And I don't really know why I'm telling you this because it won't even be in the same time frame, and you don't really care, and now I'm just rambling. I blame it being 11:15pm. If you know me you know that my brain goes haywire after ten usually. Ok, still rambling. I'm gonna stop now and let you read the actual story.**

* * *

I sat at the desk with Liam and stared at the book perched between us. The white page was littered with black scribbles that made no sense to me. I recognized letters and numbers but they were paired with symbols and diagrams that made it seem like I was reading Japanese. For the first time in my life I was regretting not finishing high school.

"So, what exactly do you need help with?" I asked Liam again.

"I have to use this diagram to find how long the last leg of this right triangle is using only the one angle and the length of the hypotenuse," Liam said pointing to a picture of a triangle.

"Right," I said and stared at the diagram again, "Why don't you ask your mother when she gets home?"

"Because mom's always so tired when she gets home from the museum and you're right here."

"Why don't you ask your sister then? She's in your class, she can help."

"She said that I should have just paid better attention in class, besides she's busy working on an assignment. Wait!" Liam exclaimed and started to scribble furiously in his notes, "I think I got it! Yes! I was pressing sin instead of cosine on the calculator, that's why none of the answers were right. Thanks dad!"

"Glad I could help," I said and got up from the table. I looked across the room and saw Adana typing furiously at the computer. I walked over and peered over her shoulder.

"Dad, you kind of seem like a creeper when you do that," Adana said her eyes never leaving her laptop.

"Well, do I seem like a creeper when I do…this!" I said and started to tickle her sides.

She burst out in peals of laughter and squirmed around in her chair, trying to evade my tickling, "Yes!" she laughed back.

I stopped tickling her to look at the page that was loading on the screen, "What are you doing?"

"I have to do a project for my criminology class about either a forger or thief from the twenty- first century. It has to be a complete bio and include what they were accused of, if they had partners and then a 'how would you catch them?' section that has to be at least two pages long."

"That's not that long; I fill out case files longer than that so why are you complaining."

"I'm not complaining, it's just that I can't find any that I want to-" she said and stopped. She had scrolled about halfway down the list of forgers and had come to rest on one name. Next to the name was a simple mug shot: mine, "Dad, why are you listed as an international forger and thief?"

* * *

I sat across from Liam and Adana as they stared at me with intent eyes. I hadn't felt this nervous about something, even when Peter had been interrogating me after he got me on the bond forgeries. I knew that sooner or later I would have to tell them something and I immediately felt like I shot back to my first couple of years working with Peter.

I had always felt like I was balancing on a tightrope whenever I walked into that building. How much would I tell them? Enough to get by, enough to gain their trust, or the whole thing? Then, how much would I keep hidden? Would I say that I was there? Or that I knew through a friend? Would I say that I knew where it was, or was that too risky for my own well being? I was perched on a thin string with one foot off and the other slipping. I was about to fall down into a deep pile of goo that I wasn't sure I could stomach.

Still they silently stared, expecting an answer. I looked at them and was struck with how similar they were to Alex and I. Adana had my blue eyes and long waving dark hair with just a hint of light brown from Alex, the rest of her face was her mothers. Her cheek bones, her chin, her lips, they all were Alex's. Liam on the other hand had Alex's deep brown eyes and the same hair as Adana but nothing else. He had my ears, chin, and smile. He looked so much like me that at least once Peter had commented on how he was like a younger version, or 'Neal 2.0' as he had said once.

Their personalities were completely different too. While they were both very knowledgeable, Adana was the one who decided to pursue that more. She was involved in every club, class and activity that they offered that didn't involve sports. She would go on a run to clear her head or walk Satchmo every so often but she preferred to watch the beauty as the world passed instead of giving it a nudge to make it go a little faster. That was Liam's job.

While Adana was the artistic type, Liam was the sports type, and I blamed Peter. As soon as Liam was eight Peter took him to the shooting range and Liam never turned back. He got involved in shooting competitions, archery, horse riding, soccer, lacrosse, swimming, he even took kendo for two years. While he had the disadvantage of not being built like a normal athlete would be, he made up for in skill and technique. He would practice for hours trying to do one move until he got it perfect every time. He had the heart of a puppy, the inner strength of a bull and the stubbornness of a boar. That was all Alex.

While I had helped Adana learn to hone her skills; brush techniques, history lessons and music lessons, Alex had been helping Liam. She was always pushing him to go one step further, one level higher, one more difficulty to master. She was never pushy or mean about his striving to be greater, offering just enough bit of teasing to make him want to do it again, and do it better. She would always say something like 'So you did fifty push-ups? I bet that you could do sixty'; but among all of these differences, they always had one thing in common; they were never lacking in friends. They were like chocolate; both sweet, good looking and you always came back for more.

I looked at them and smiled, like Alex and I they were the perfect compliments of each other. Yin and Yang, two halves to the whole, whatever analogy you could think of. They just fit together.

"Dad!" Liam said, pulling me out of my reverie, "Are you going to tell us why you have a mug shot?"

And there I was, right back up balancing on that tight rope. I was just about to answer them when I heard the door open and Alex's all familiar heels enter the house.

"Honey! Kids I'm home!" she called and I heard the door shut.

"We're in the living room! Come in here for a second!" Adana yelled back and added as and afterthought, "Please!"

"What's up?" Alex said and walked into the living room, "What's going on?"

"Did you know that Dad was arrested for forgery! And theft!" Adana said and a shocked look came to Alex's face.

She stared at me as if to say 'how did they find out?'. I offered my own pleading gaze of 'they found out themselves.' Alex shook her head silently saying 'what now?', I just shrugged back. Alex sighed and I knew at once that we were going to tell them everything.

"Okay kids," Alex said and sat down next to me on the couch, "There's something that you need to know about your parents. Once, a long time ago, your father and I were both wanted by the FBI."

"What!" Liam said, "But- but dad works for the FBI! How could he be wanted by them! And you work in a museum!"

"Have we really gotten that boring?" Alex asked taking my hand.

"You could never get boring," I said and kissed her.

"Oh, ew," Adana said.

"Get a room," Liam added.

"Well if you insist," Alex and I both said teasingly.

"No! Not until you tell us everything!"

"Well, before I started to work with Peter, I used to run from him. I was on Peter Burke's personal radar for almost four years before he caught me, then I spent an almost equal amount of time in jail because of him."

"Wait, wait. Does Uncle Moz know about this?" Adana asked.

"Honey," Alex said with a chuckle, "You're Uncle Moz was the one who introduced your dad to the world of white collar crime. He's the reason that Neal and I were still talking after everything that happened between us."

"What!" they both said incredulous, "No way! Uncle Moz is a criminal! That's so cool!"

"He's gotten more accustomed to public opinion since you've been born but he used to be a giant conspiracy theorist and plan our heists."

"And you used to pull them off? Like the famous Copenhagen incident? Is that real? Are you going to tell us about that?" Liam excitedly asked.

"For our own well being we can neither confirm nor deny that information, and Copenhagen is a story for another day," I said, "Now do you want us to tell you or not?"

"Yes!" they both answered.

"Well stop interrupting with questions then. So, I started out on the other side of the law right after I dropped out of high school," I said and both of the kids eyes widened. They opened their mouths to say something but, in fear that I wouldn't finish the story, soon shut them, "I worked with your Uncle Moz and was the alleged forger of dozens of bonds, art works and other valuables which is what got me on the white collar watch list. I was a suspect in dozens of heists in just as many countries with twice as many aliases and I had never been caught. That is until Peter was put on my case. He had an uncanny knack for catching criminals and I was his new target, so I decided to have some fun with it. Every time he got close to me I would just slip though his fingers and leave him a little note or something to remember me by. All this while, allegedly, continuing to forge and steal. I was having the time of my life and living it up until, one day I got too cocky. I went to Copenhagen to work a job with your mother. Kate, my girlfriend at the time, was supposed to go along. She didn't and the job went south, we escaped but Alex ended up in a French hospital and when I got back, Kate was gone. I looked for her but, there were other jobs to pull. I had to put finding Kate on the backburner and focus on my jobs. One day Mozzie came to me and said that word had turned up about Kate. I went to a storage unit and found her, but the FBI found us. Your uncle was right, it was a trap that Peter had set for me. He was able to convict me of bond forgery but had no solid evidence of my other alleged crimes so I was only sentence to four years in supermax."

"Supermax?" Adana asked.

"Super maximum security prison," I answered before continuing, "Well, Kate and I had finally been reunited and she visited me in prison every week until, one day she broke us off and just left. I was upset," I heard Alex snicker at my choice of wording, "To say the least. Well, with three months left on my sentence I broke out."

"No way! You broke out of a maximum security prison!"

"That is so cool!"

"Well, it wasn't cool for me. I went to go find Kate only to find that she had left our apartment and dropped off of everyone's map. I sat in our empty apartment for a couple hours before Peter came to arrest me. Luckily for me he wasn't having such a hot day either; he was on the case of a man called 'The Dutchman' and he had just lost his only lead on him in an explosion. Well, when he picked me up he was covered in these little fibers. I identified them as the new security strip for the Canadian hundreds and asked Peter to meet me in jail in one week. My information held through so Peter came and I offered him a proposal. I had tasted fresh air, I couldn't go back to prison. So I offered Peter a deal that I would be his consultant for the rest of my sentence and help him catch the criminals, as long as I didn't have to go back in. Peter reluctantly agreed and I was released into his custody."

"So they just let you out?" Liam asked.

"Well I had to wear a tracking anklet at all times and unless I was with an FBI agent, I wasn't allowed two miles away from my home, your Aunt June's house. If I broke that rule I was going straight back in, no exceptions."

"Except for the few exceptions that you went out of your radius and didn't go back to jail. Not to mention the time you got out of that 'unhackable' tracking anklet," Alex said with a smile.

"What! How?" Adana said, obvious excitement in her voice.

"I had friends on the inside and that's all I'm going to say. So, it was about halfway through my time working with the FBI when I proposed to your mother, then we had you two."

"So, why do you still work for the FBI? Why not do something else like mom did and work at a museum?"

"The FBI became my home," I told them, "When I was on the run I had houses, but not homes so, when I had to stay in a place where people actually cared for me. It grew on me. I started to look forward to going in and seeing Peter and the rest of the agents. When you grow accustomed to something it's like a bad habit, you don't want to give it up. So, when my years of service were over I asked to be a fulltime consultant."

The kids stared at me as I finished and I could hear the gears turning in the brains. They had gone almost seventeen years thinking that their parents were just normal law abiding citizens and now, their world was turned upside down. It's not everyday that you find out your father went to and escaped from a maximum security jail and your mother also used to run from the FBI.

"That."

"Is."

"So Cool!" the twins said simultaneously.

"I have to go call Jen!" Adana said and ran upstairs, she stopped halfway there and hugged us, "You are the coolest parents ever!"

"I have to go tell the guys!" Liam said and followed after Adana.

"That wasn't the reaction that I was expecting," Alex said and smiled.

"What were you expecting?"

"Now being called the 'coolest parents ever' that's for sure," Alex said we sat there on the couch laughing.

**

* * *

Two Weeks Later**

I walked into our bedroom and changed into a painting shirt so that I could finish a work that the FBI needed. I came out of the bathroom and saw a white paper on my black comforter. I picked it up and read the title page: 'Neal Caffrey: Forger, Thief, My Father By: Adana Caffrey'. A read the detailed paper, she had obviously talked to Peter as well, and a smile crept onto my face as I saw the grade: A+. 'Very exciting, maybe you could ask your father in to guest speak?' was written in red pen underneath the grade and my smile grew even wider.

**

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Not one of my better chapters but, oh well. I hope that you liked it anyway. Sorry it took so long for me to write it but the next chapter should, **_**should**_**, be up by next week.**

**Ok, for one I really liked the new episode. We got to see more of Kate and Alex, we saw Peter in a mustache again (LOL), Satchmo as a puppy (sooo cute!) and Mozzie with a goatee and toupee (OMG, I really don't know what else to say to that).**

**Thanks for reading! Review make me very happy.**


	5. A Knock on the Front Door

**A Knock on the Front Door**

**Okay, I have been wanting to write this chapter since, well since before I even thought of the rest of this story. My dad and brothers always joke about this (I think they're joking anyway) and I just had to. I am not one to resist my muses so here we go; a fluffy chapter about a fathers worst nightmare.**

I walked through the kitchen door and saw Adana and Alex standing at the kitchen sink and putting the now clean dishes away.

"I think that'll be great honey, why doesn't he come over at six?" Alex said and Adana hugged her furiously.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Adana said and ran upstairs, a giant smile on her face.

"What was that about?" I asked, leaning against the doorway.

"Oh nothing, just that a boy asked Ady out today," she said calmly and kept stacking the dishes.

"What?" I asked. My heart stopped and I felt panic wash over me, "Who?"

"Did Jacob finally ask her out?" Liam said walking in and grabbing an apple from a bowl on the table.

"Who's Jacob?" I asked, a tight hand gripping my heart.

"Some senior guy; he's on the varsity soccer team. We played together once, he's pretty good."

"Senior? So he's older?"

"Yeah, he transferred from some school upstate a few months ago. Ady's been mooning over him ever since she saw him."

"What else?" I asked, not caring how frantic I might have looked.

"I dunno," Liam said shrugging his shoulders, "Apparently they're both in the same chemistry class, I don't know much else about him," he said and started to walk out of the kitchen, "Oh! He does have a pretty sweet 70's mustang convertible, apparently his grandpa left it to him."

I sank down in the nearest chair and felt all color drain from my face. He was older and he owned a car, what could be worse?

"Honey? Are you okay?" Alex asked leaning down to face me.

"Ady… has a date," I said and I swear that I heard a gavel drop in the distance, some symbolic sound to bring it all home and make it real.

"Yeah," she said soothingly, "Our little girl isn't so little anymore."

"When?"

"Tomorrow. He's going to come and pick her up at six to go to dinner and the movies."

As soon as Alex told me a plan started to form in my head. In a matter of seconds it was almost perfect, there were only two problems; I had to get Alex out of the house, and I had to get Peter and Mozzie in.

* * *

I sat in the living room attempting to watch whatever was playing on the TV. Instead, my eyes would dart every so often to the clock above it and to my dismay, see that not even a minute had passed. Finally, after an eternity of clock-watching, I heard the doorbell ring. I ran over to the front door and opened it to see Peter.

"Finally!" I said and let him in.

"Abigail needed help with a school project so I got held up," he said and took off his jacket, "When does Mozzie get here?"

"Ten minutes," I said and the doorbell rang again, "Or ten seconds…"

I opened the door and saw Moz standing on the porch.

"Hello," he said and walked in, "Suit," he said and bowed his head in acknowledgment of Peter.

"Moz, I thought you weren't coming for another ten minutes," I said and shut the door again.

"The way to avoid being followed, is to never follow plans," Moz said matter-of-factly and sat down on the couch.

"Okay," I said and sat down on the couch, "Do you have the stuff?" I asked Peter.

"Got it," Peter said and pulled out dozens of old case files.

"Neal, who's here?" Alex called down from upstairs.

"Just Peter! We're going over some old cases!"

"Okay, there are beers in the fridge for Peter!"

"Thanks Alex!" Peter called up to her.

"Okay, ready Moz?" I asked and he took out a cell phone.

"Ready."

I looked at my watch and waited for exactly one minute, "Now," I said and Mozzie dialed the house number.

After two rings Alex picked up and Mozzie started with his part of the script, "Yes, is this Miss Caffrey?" he asked in a fake accent, "I am calling from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We sent a representative down to you to examine some of the works that you have but no one was there to escort him around…Well we received a confirmation email that someone would be there…well obviously Janette isn't there…thank you, I'll tell him that you are on your way... Thank you, goodbye," Moz said and hung up, "Operation: remove Alex is complete."

Then, as if on cue, Alex came down the stairs tugging her jacket on, "Honey, I have to go to the museum, there's a representative from the Met and no one there to see him."

"Isn't Janette there?" I asked innocently.

"Apparently not," she said and grabbed her keys, "Oh, Jacob comes in five minutes, be nice. Hey Mozzie."

"Will do," I said and kissed her goodbye. We all sat and listened until we could no longer hear her car, "Now."

Mozzie headed upstairs and to Adana's room and Peter and I arranged the living room where Jacob would have no obvious escape path.

"Hey, what do I say to Ady to stall her?" Moz whispered, halfway up the stairs.

"She's a seventeen year old on her first date, if you say anything other than that she looks perfect she'll change her outfit," I told him and Mozzie headed upstairs.

"Here," Peter said and handed me my old anklet with a smile, "I figured that you could find a way to use this."

"Ah, this brings back memories," I said and slipped the anklet on. As soon as I had gotten it on there was a knock at the door, "And that would be our mark."

I got up and went over to the door, I opened it and saw an attractive young man standing on my porch. He was about my height with sandy blond hair and emerald green eyes. He was wearing blue jeans with a red shirt that had 'expendable' printed on it.

"Hello, I'm here to see Ady," he said and held out his hand.

"Yes yes, come in," I said and ushered him inside, "Peter and I were just going over some cases. Ady will be right down."

"Cases?" he asked and sat down on the couch.

"We work for the FBI," Peter said nonchalantly and casually adjusted his jacket so that his gun was showing.

"Awesome, so you catch like, serial killers and stuff?"

"Worse, we catch white collar criminals," Peter said.

"White collar criminals? How are they worse?"

"We don't leave any evidence," I said and crossed my legs so that my pant cuff rode up and the tracking anklet was showing. Jacob obviously saw this and swallowed nervously.

"You mean they, right? You got out of that game," Peter said looking up from a file.

"Right, I'm not a felon," I told Jacob, "Anymore."

"But, uh, don't you work for the FBI?" Jacob asked nervously.

"Now, but it was so much more fun running from them," I said reminiscent.

"I caught you once, don't make me do it again."

"Yeah but, I took you four years to find me, and then you could only convict me of the bond forgery."

"_Almost_ four years, and you still spent four years in prison."

"_Almost_ four years, I broke out remember."

"Wait, you broke out of prison?" Jacob asked and i could hear the nervousness in his voice.

"Supermax," I said, not trying to hide my proud expression, "Oh but enough about me. Where do you plan to take Ady tonight?"

"Oh, um…" Jacob said and shifted nervously "I was thinking out to dinner and a movie."

"Oh and will you be paying?" I asked and saw Peter peer over the top of the file.

"Of course."

"And what time do you expect to be back?" at this Peter took out his gun and laid it on the coffee table.

"Um…um, about ten thirty?"

"Then thirty?"

"Ten, I meant ten," he quickly corrected himself.

"That's what I though you said. Now, I'd like to have some… father to... well I think that we both know what you are to me. Now, Adana is my little girl, she's my _only_ little girl. I expect you to be the perfect gentleman to her. Do you know what that means?" I asked and paused, not expecting an answer, "That means no contact other than hand to hand, and only that sparingly. There will be no yawn-and-stretching, no playing with her hair, and above all: there will be no kissing. Nod if you understand me."

He slowly nodded his head in acknowledgment and I smiled, "And if you feel the urge to do more than hold hands remember this: I can make you disappear and no one will ever know," I told him and Peter cleared his throat, "Well, no one will know for as long as it takes," I said and smiled.

"Okay! I'm ready!" Ady said and came down wearing blue jeans with a green shirt and tan jacket.

"Wow, you look…" Jacob said and stood up, "You look great."

"Thanks," Ady said with a bright smile and took his hand.

"Come on, we'll be late for our reservations," Jacob said and ushered her out the door.

Peter and I walked over to the door and watched them get into his mustang.

"Have fun you two!" Peter called out.

"But not too much!" I called after him as soon as they were in the car i closed the door, "Nice job with the gun."

"I thought that you would like that."

* * *

**9:59 PM**

I was sitting on the couch when Ady stormed into the house.

"Hey honey! How was your date?"

"I am _not_ speaking to you!" she yelled and stomped upstairs.

"One day you'll thank me!" I yelled after her and was promptly responded to with the sound of her door slamming shut.

"What did you do?" Alex asked from the couch.

"Nothing," I walked over to the front window, "We just had a chat about work," I said and waved to the quickly retreating blue Mustang.

"Really, is that why you're wearing your tracking anklet again?" Alex said knowingly and walked upstairs.

**

* * *

Hehe, sorry but I had to. I hope that you liked the chapter. I don't know when I'll update next because, well, I don't really know what I want to write next. I'm floating a couple ideas around so I'll just have to wait and see which one gets typed first. I hope that it won't take too long but no promises. As always, reviews make me very, very happy!**


	6. A Knock on my Age

**A Knock on my Age**

**I am sorry that it has taken me this long to post this chapter, I really wanted to post it sooner but I got really busy, and then my muses kind of left and now here we are in October. There's also another reason why I didn't want to post this, because I didn't want to write it. Here's your warning: character death to follow. I have fallen in love with my little family for Neal and Alex and I don't want to write a sad ending but alas, things can't always go my way. So now I post this with a tear stained keyboard and a little piece missing from my heart.**

* * *

It was a rainy November day when it happened. The leaves were still falling from the trees, trying to hold onto their last bit of life. Within the week every one of them will have fallen, lost on the concrete sidewalks and swept up by the wind to blow away to their final resting place. In a way it was poetic, the world was dying just like Alex Caffrey.

She knew it was going to happen soon and she didn't mind. She had lived a long and good life. She had seen most of the world, married the love of her life, had two wonderful children with him and seen her five grandchildren grow up to be young adults. It was this wonderful family that she called around her to say her goodbye's.

Everyone crowded around her hospital bedside, three generations and a fourth on the way. She sat up in her bed to take a better look at them all, the family that she had helped build with Neal, the wonderful man holding her hand. He was older than her but still had that devilish smile and still always wore his hats. She would miss that the most when she was gone, this gentle face that she had seen every day for the past fifty- three years.

As everyone stood around her she grasped her husbands hand in one of hers and her children's in her other. As tears silently streaked down their faces she said the words that nobody in the room wanted to hear.

"I won't be here much longer, now its no use crying over. I've lived a good life, a much better one than I should have. I've lived to see all of you grow up into wonderful people and I wouldn't trade a single day of it for anything. I want you all to know that I love you with all my heart and I know that you'll be okay, but you have to be strong. Take care of each other when I can't."

Now everyone in the room was crying, so Alex called them to her one by one, hugged them, told them that she loved them and then they all left until it was only Neal and her in the room.

He looked at her with those sweet blue eyes she had fallen in love with and offered her a sad smile, just a faint trace of the rogue boy hiding behind it. She grasped his hand tight in hers and whispered, "I love you". It was all that needed to be said because it said everything. He smiled and kissed her, tears sliding down his handsomely aged face.

"I love you too," he said, and she smiled. Sighing, she closed her eyes with bliss as Neal pressed his face down into the bed and began to weep.

* * *

Three days after Alex's funeral Neal walked into an empty home. The smell of cinnamon and sugar still lingered in the kitchen from the last batch of cookies that Alex had made. The light still illuminated the house the same way it always did, casting a welcoming aura over all the rooms. Family photos hung on the hall where they had stood for years, lovingly taken by either Neal or Alex of their children and grandchildren. Memories of birthdays and anniversaries flooded the house through these pictures, something you could expect to find in any happy home. But the happy home was no longer complete.

Neal traced his fingers across the frame of a photo, his favorite. It was a picture that Peter and Elizabeth had given them for their fiftieth anniversary. In the photo was him and Alex both lying in her hospital bed, just to the side of them were Liam and Adana, still wrapped up in their blue and pink blankets, only hours old. It was a photo he had treasured since he first saw it, and would always remain his favorite, because it was his first family photo. The only real family he had had. And now that family was broken.

He felt tears streaking down his face, not for the first time since Alex had died. He heaved a sigh and took the photo off of the wall, carrying it with him as he made his way upstairs and into the bedroom. He placed the photo on his nightstand and sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked at the clock, 9:06 pm was flashing back at him in blue lights. Alex always used to tease him that the good life of a conman must have worn him out too early in life if he was going to bed at nine. He would always smile, because he has had a good life, it just wasn't the one that she was talking about.

He sighed and took off his hat, worn and faded but still his favorite, and placed it on the nightstand next to the photo. He smiled and lay back on the bed, missing the warmth next to him where Alex should have been. With his family on his mind, his wife in his heart and his home surrounding him Neal Caffrey closed his eyes.

* * *

Neal Caffrey died five days after Alex. The examiner said that it was due to natured causes, old age was the only thing to blame. But those who knew Neal knew better. Neal Caffrey died because of a broken heart.

It wasn't a sad occasion, there were no tears at his funeral like there were at Alex's. Because everyone knew that Neal was happy again. That he was out there, somewhere, holding hands with Alex. A fedora on his head and a smile on his lips, and they could finally spend forever together.

* * *

**Okay, so… that's it. I hope that you like it and thank you for following me through this whole story. I can't believe that its actually over, excuse me now while I go cry now. As usual, reviews are always welcome. So drop me a line, I need something to cheer me up.**


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